J&J Underground Utilities focuses on creating efficiencies with Locator LOGiX to save time and money as business expands into other states
If you ask any utility or municipal employee in North Carolina about who is the most well-known locator in the area, you’ll get a fast answer – J&J Underground Utilities. The reason they are so well known? They have 40 years of combined experience in their field and a strong reputation for their work quality.
They are also known for putting safety first. Their leadership team works closely with employees and customers to ensure safety is of the utmost priority. This includes education and training, program audits and safety inspections.
Challenge
As they continue to grow and add more customers, the team at J&J Underground Utilities realized they needed a technology partner with similar qualities – a strong reputation of putting the customer first while continuing to enhance their solutions with technology to keeppeople safe.
After trying out another vendor in the damage prevention space, they quickly pivoted and chose Norfield and Locator LOGiX, a web-based locate management system designed specifically for utilities and utility locators to manage utility line locate requests sent by 811 centers.
The team at J&J Underground Utilities has a deep commitment to strive for excellence in the quality of service to their customers.
Ronnie Mason, supervisor and locator at J&J Underground Utilities, wanted a new solution to process the many locate requests they receive annually from NC811 on behalf of their customers in a modern user interface with simple navigation. Ronnie states, “An important requirement was that the new solution be viewable on mobile devices for our locators to easily view ticket details and respond accordingly while in the field.”
Additionally, the new solution needed to be seamless in that the workflows provided an easy transition for their staff.
Solution
Ronnie’s reasons for the switch to Locator LOGiX are simple. The new solution provides more useful functionality than the previous application and in a clean and modern design. The locators especially like the updated mapping technology with weather radar and the advanced search functionality with clipboards personalized for each user.
“The team at Norfield worked directly with NC811 to migrate our current and archived data,” continued Ronnie. “The seamless integration with our state 811 center was extremely beneficial. It was an easy transition. We were up and running within days of signing the contract.”
Result
“Locator LOGiX saves us time and money. With our locators in the field 90% of the time, the ability to work on tickets on many different device types, even in areas of poor network connectivity, provides us with operational efficiencies,” says Ronnie. “No longer do we need to download images from a camera and upload them to a centralized database which saves us a great deal of time.”
He further explains that the offline mode and the auto ticket routing features are especially key to increased work productivity. The seamless integration with NC811 and the ability to clear tickets in advance with accurate data provides the locators the ability to focus their attention in areas that could potentially lead to an emergency status.
“The big win for us is how easy Locator LOGiX is to use and configure. The locators are very happy with the new application and training was minimal due to how intuitive it is,” said Ronnie. “Overall, I’m very pleased with the functionality of Locator LOGiX and with the team at Norfield. However, the real benefit is that we are experiencing a significant uptick in staff productivity as well as internal process improvements. This allows us to make the best use of our time each day.”
“Additionally, I love the fact that Norfield is making enhancements with safety top of mind. We are currently testing their new AI-driven risk assessment feature designed to help us manage and prioritize our tasks to mitigate damages,” says Ronnie.
This innovative feature automatically processes tickets as they are received in Locator LOGiX, analyzing various factors associated with each task to generate a risk score categorized as high, moderate, or low. These risk scores are then seamlessly integrated into the Locator LOGiX user interface, providing users with valuable insights to prioritize tasks effectively and mitigate potential risks associated with utility damage.
Ronnie adds, “The Norfield Support Team is responsive and very helpful too. I’m extremely satisfied in choosing Norfield as our technology partner and I’m excited to see what new functionality they develop next that helps us better serve our customers.”